Repellency of three plant essential oils against red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) is an insect pest found in stored products. To control this pest, it is necessary to develop safe alternatives to replace hazardous fumigants. This research aimed to determine the repellency of essential oils from three different plants, Hypericum hemsleyanum, Mentha haplocalyx and Stemona japonica, against T. castaneum adults under laboratory conditions. The repellency of essential oils was determined by area preference method at a concentration of 31.5 mu g/cm(2). Filter paper disks were placed in petri dishes, one half was treated with essential oil and other half served as control. Twenty T. castaneum adults were placed in the center of each paper disk. Insects were counted in treated and control areas at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after insect release. Hypericum hemsleyanum and M. haplocalyx showed the strong repellency at all assessment times, with values of 94, 71, 69 and 70%, and 91, 65, 73 and 83% at 12, 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively, followed by S. japonica. This research showed that these oils are strong repellents and can potentially be used to repel T. castaneum in stored products.